Mischief Managed
by beaner.weener
Summary: Loki. By now, just a name to you - one of the many prisoners being contained by Odin. In the past you were friends, but things have changed. When Loki escapes the prisons, it is up to you, Sif, and Thor to capture him. Alliances are made, trusts are broken and mended, and mischief is managed. Not for long, but managed, nonetheless. Loki x Reader. T for major character death.
1. Prelude

_**First**_

Stark as noontime but cloaked in shadows, you walked around the planet of Asgard. It was dusk, and though the trained eye would easily spot you slipping through the crack between time and space, most were not trained as such. You went unnoticed, for now. And that was how you liked it.

_Where am I going?_ you asked yourself.

_Nowhere, _you answered.

Talking to yourself is not such a crazy thing, you thought. The only insanity that would come with it is if you asked yourself something, and someone else's voice answered. Besides, who else had you to speak with? Who else would make your company on a fine evening such as this one, or the one of yesterday, or perhaps even tomorrow? None. Not a soul could keep your angry and slightly demented mind at bay for long enough to hold a conversation.

For these reasons and many more, you – yourself, and none but yourself – found your way down to the tree on which you and Thor and Loki played as children.

Memories in this tree were many, not all good but not all bad, some heartbreaking and some heartwarming, some victorious, some of defeat.

Thor and Loki. They had been your friends for quite a long time. The summerlike days you spent together as children, guided more by warm and wise Frigga than equally wise but never quite as warm Odin, lingered in the branches you touched. Their shadows were imprinted as ghosts in leaves, mere thoughts that took root at the base of the tree and grew more abstract and frantic as they frayed up the trunk and through the limbs.

It was a funny process, how ideas became thoughts became words.

At this time, the sun continuing to set all the while, you removed your cloak and placed it carefully on an outstretched thought – limb, branch, what have you – and watched as the last light of day illuminated its scintillate essence.

Oh! How you wished to go back to the time when they all accepted you, when you were friends and all was right in the world. Now even Loki – tormented, devilish, mindful Loki – abandoned you when you asked something of him.

As a child, he was a playful one, always joking and laughing and tricking people. He taught you how to walk briskly through the shadows, how to go unnoticed if you did not want to be seen.

He and Thor got along as well as brothers ever would, but Thor always joked there would be something more between the two of you. Sometimes you wish it were true – sometimes you see Loki, and something in his eyes or the set of his mouth or the way he crosses his hands or stands near a window reminds you of who he used to be and you see him in light.

Of course, that "taking over the world" business is a bit in the way.

You would never trust Loki again. It was true, you knew you'd never see him in the same way you did as a child. And that was fine, you convinced yourself – it was fine, because he was not the same person. It was fine because you mattered nothing to him. It was fine because, when you talked to him in the dungeons (tried to, anyway), he glared at you and said nothing. And when he did say things you wished he didn't. No, you convinced yourself it was okay because Loki was not on the right side. Loki would _never _be the happy boy you once knew. And that was okay because you were different, too.

From a nondescript corner, a pair of eyes – you did not know he was watching you, but as Loki escaped, he paid you a small visit. He saw you sitting on that tree and a part of him wished he sat there with you. He turned away sadly, wishing you the best, and slipping through a crevice in reality, fled the prisons.

**A/N:**

**As you may or may not know, romance is not my strongest suit. But, my friends, I will try my best.**

**This was written in a frenzy of imagination. I had to get it down before my parents got home, ehehe. Let me know if you find any grammatical errors, heaven forbid I made any, and I will fix them as necessary. Thank you.**

**::Binna::**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Loki, I'd be the happiest person alive. Not for long, though. I'd probably be dead soon.**


	2. Loki, Lost

_**Second**_

The sun rose majestically over the realm of Asgard. Golden light illuminated the pink stardust that was taken as sunrise, and poured into the shadows, making them dance with new life.

You drew your curtains open, letting the morning into your chamber, where night had thrived for all too long in the dust and antiquities this room accumulated over time. You hadn't gotten much sleep in the night, or the one prior to that, or the one prior to that. In fact, you hardly slept at all these days, mostly you just walked through Asgard and kept yourself occupied.

A faint knock on your chamber door was enough to startle you; most of the time everybody left you to yourself and didn't mind when you failed to come up for breakfast. You smoothed out the rumpled clothing you still wore from last night and unlatched the door.

The first thing you saw when you creaked the door open was the sunlight catching bright golden hair and reflecting throughout the room and hall like candle-light.

"Lady."

This was the voice of Thor. You stepped back, allowing the Asgardian royalty to sweep into your quarters.

Even this early in the morning, Thor's presence took up more space than the room had to offer. When he was a child, you remembered, his charisma shone like the sun, contrasting to Loki's dark and mischievous night-like personality.

He was beautiful, and bright, and glorious, and _he had called you Lady._ But the purpose for which he came today wrapped a dark shroud around his shoulders, dimming his natural light.

He turned and faced you, bright blue eyes meeting yours for the first time in too long to remember. Then, abruptly, he looks down. "Loki. My brother Loki has escaped."

You shrink slightly at these words, then shake your head. "Thor, why do you come to me with this news?"

His eyes meet yours again. "Because, (y/n), we will need your help to capture him again."

Your mind is racing and your heart is racing and you feel as if you just took three hundred shots of straight caffeine and by gods you need to sit down, but you steady yourself on the dresser and stammer, "Why…why me?"

Thor shakes his head and chuckles lightly. "Do you not remember, (y/n)? Do you not remember the countless hours you and I and him spent playing as children? How you two were practically the same entity for years and years? If anyone is able to track him down, it will be you."

You were _certain_ they had both forgotten about you, and Thor thought it was the other way around?

He continued. "We will need the help of Sif, and the one person Loki loves most. The person he can always depend on, the only person who has been known to make him question himself on more than one occasion."

"Frigga," you whispered.

Thor nodded.

A while later, you were in a dark room with Thor and Sif. Lady Sif looked the same as she did when you were children: dark brown hair and a regal face, complete with battle armor and her natural tall presence.

The Queen of Asgard entered the room, dress sweeping in behind her. Frigga had always been one of your favourite people. She was wise and level-headed, and could handle a sword as well as any male fighter you ever knew. She was the one who taught you and Loki to fight; therefore your fighting styles were very similar to hers. And, speaking from experience, that style very often won.

Frigga smiled. "Odin has gone mad," she said simply. Thor grunted as if this was no news to him.

Odin _had _always been quick to anger.

The next few hours were spent discussing Loki's escape, and a plan to capture him once more. The plan, simply summarized, went as so:

All four of you would look for clues to find Loki. You and Frigga would work together, while Sif would guide Thor with her hunter instincts. Once you found a prominent enough clue to go after, you would scout, followed in about ten minutes' time by Sif. If you could locate Loki, Sif would briefly contain Loki's magic so he couldn't use it. You would run for Thor and Frigga.

The rest is basically self-explanatory. Frigga would calm Loki and reason with him, Thor would do the actual caputring. He would be prisoner again in practically no time at all.

"We cannot have Loki running rampant like a fugitive," said Sif, even though there was nobody to argue with her. "Who knows what he will do? A man like that is capable of anything."

You did feel bad for Loki, no matter how hard you tried not to. To be completely honest, you didn't think he would do anything drastic in the short amount of time he knew he had before the group of you tracked him down. Frigga smiled lightly at you, as if reading your thoughts and telling you that you were the only one besides herself who understood Loki's nature.

But the plan was set, and you would go into action shortly.

After lunch, that was.

**I'm very sorry about the quality of my writing, I'm completely aware that it's 500% awful. Sorry to disappoint you guys. I'm awful at characterization, too. The gods only know how awfully I wrote Frigga and Sif, dear me. Thor, too. Agh. Please don't hate me too much.**

**::Binna::**


End file.
